The Doppelganger Bears
by emily.robbins.313
Summary: Sherlock and John had some unusual child-hood toys. You could almost say their partnership was written in the stars... (Sorry for the cryptic summary, I don't want to give too much away). Johnlock. A two-shot.
1. John

"I can't believe you convinced me to do this," Sherlock sighed, obviously bored. The attic was surprisingly small, given the size of the rest of the house – Sherlock had to stoop down in order to avoid knocking his head against the wooden beams supporting the ceiling.

It had all started the day before – Sherlock's parents had phoned, completely out of the blue, to inform that they were moving house and needed help to clean out the attic. It would have all been fine for Sherlock if he hadn't been out at the time; if John hadn't answered the phone; if his parents hadn't told John. There was no escaping the menial task when John supplied copious amounts of sentiment and 'but they're your parents'.

"It's the proper thing to do, Sherlock…" John defended. Sherlock only snorted in reply.

John began to look through another box when something obviously caught his eye. "What is it John?" Sherlock asked impatiently.

John held a teddy bear out of the box with a slack-jawed expression but a smile trying to tug at the corner of his mouth. The bear was medium-to-large in size with blue-rimmed glass eyes, blonde fur; and it wore a cream-coloured jumper that actually looked suspiciously like the jumper John was wearing – in fact, it seemed like John's doppelganger. "Who's this?" John asked, amusement in his voice.

"No idea, must have deleted it." Sherlock stated in a staged monotone. John could almost swear that he heard the slightest tinge of emotion to Sherlock's voice.

"Well, undelete it! I've seen you do that before, you know. I want to know; I'm curious."

Sherlock took the bear from John and memories seemed to flood back like a tidal wave. "His name's John. We used to do everything together. He was my first ever toy – given to me by my parents just after I was born, apparently."

John's expression seemed to copy that of a goldfish. His eyes bulged, mouth gaping and closing every so often as if trying to ask something. "His… His name's… John?"

"Strange, isn't it. He's almost your doppelganger, too. A slight air of, what I can only describe as, creepiness to it…"

After a moment, John decided he was curious about another matter – which was also toy-related. "Did you have any other toys growing up?"

"Please promise you won't laugh…" Sherlock sighed.

"I won't laugh," John promised, doubting it was one he could keep.

"I had… a Barbie doll…" Sherlock confessed.

Yeah, John was right, he couldn't keep his promise. John doubled over on himself and roared with laughter. "You?! _You_ had a _Barbie doll_!?" he laughed.

Something changed in Sherlock's face as his line of vision focused on something behind John. "He was interested in fashion for a time. He only dressed her up, she was more of a model than a doll to him." John turned to see Sherlock's mother behind him.

"But I soon grew out of it –" Sherlock began before being interrupted by his mother.

"After five years," She smiled. This made John laugh even more; so much so that he could hardly breathe.

After a minute or so, John just about managed to regain composure. "Is that why you were being so bitchy about the colour of the victim's clothes in A Study in Pink?" The look Sherlock gave John was a clear enough answer. "Oh my God…" John laughed.

"Oh, you found John!" Sherlock's mother smiled. She looked over at the bear then back to the human John. "These too look awfully alike; it's quite eerie! Same name and everything!"

"Yes it's… Weird…" John sighed.

"Sherlock, darling, do you remember why you started calling him John when you were two? I remember that Christmas morning like it was yesterday," she beamed.

"No, I don't…" Sherlock's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Well, I had knitted John the bear a new jumper so we took off his current jumper and he had a little heart stitched on his chest with 'John' in red stitching."

"That's so sweet!" John smiled. "It bloody strange if you ask me, though!"

"Well, John, Sherlock; I think we can handle it from here. Give us a call in a week if you'd like to come over to the new place."

Sherlock hugged his mother and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, "Of course, mummy."

"See you two later." There was a smile on her face, the sort of smile that came from knowing what no one else did. But John and Sherlock ignored this and left to get back to 221b.


	2. Sherlock

John had been sorting through the many photo albums in his bedroom when he had rushed into the living room; his face drained of colour.

"John?" Sherlock enquired, "Are you alright?"

John didn't answer. He rushed to the door, grabbing his coat.

"John? Where are you going?"

"Out!" That was all John offered as an explanation. John was going to his parents' to find a specific thing from his childhood that he had only just remembered upon seeing an old photograph.

…

Several hours later, John re-entered the flat. Sherlock peered up for his newspaper and his sight settled on a medium sized teddy bear with dark brown fur that john held in his hand. The bear was dressed in a long trench coat, much like Sherlock's, and a blue scarf. Sherlock got out of his chair to examine the bear more closely. The bear's eyes were rimmed with an indescribable colour; not quite blue, not quite grey, not quite green; just like Sherlock's eyes.

"This is my teddy bear that I got when I was born. His name is Sherlock." John seemed a little distracted, distant. Sherlock removed the bear from John's grip. He brushed the open coat and it revealed a little heart stitched on his chest with 'Sherlock' in red stitching.

"I thought you said that you hadn't heard the name 'Sherlock before we met…" Sherlock was very confused but extremely intrigued by the doppelganger bears.

"I thought I hadn't. But I was looking through my old photo albums in my room and I kept seeing parts of a teddy bear in the photographs and then I found a photograph of me and Sherlock was completely in the frame; so I've just been to my parents' to ask them about it and they gave him to me. All the memories just flooded back. I used to take him everywhere."

"This is bazaar…" that's all Sherlock could manage to say.

"No shit, Sherlock! This is crazy… Paranormal!"

"I seriously wish I could disagree…" Sherlock's eyes never left the teddy bear. He ran a hand along it's back, under the trench coat; Sherlock's face changed into an unusual expression and he began to remove the bear's coat.

"Sherlock, what are you doing?!" John shouted.

"Your bear has a tear here to?!" Sherlock was in a frenzy. He dropped Sherlock the bear and ran to his room.

"Sherlock! I expect an explanation pretty bloody soon!" Sherlock ran back to John with John the bear in his hands, pulling off the jumper. "Have a bit of respect, would you?!" John looked in disgust as Sherlock stripped his likeness.

"Look!" Sherlock pointed to a tear in his bear's back and then showed John a similar tear in Sherlock the bear's back.

"I never noticed…" John gasped.

"Do you know what's even stranger? I didn't either!" Sherlock's eyes were wide.

"But you notice _everything_!" John pointed out.

"I know! That's why I'm confused!"

"How come there is a tear in both the bears' backs?"

"There must be something in them!"

"What?"

"You search Sherlock, I'll search John."

"That is possibly… No, not possibly… _Definitely_ the weirdest sentence I've ever heard you say!" John laughed.

They came upon two small letters, one in each bear. Sherlock read his first.

'_This bear is the doppelganger of your soul mate, son. The name in the centre of its heart is the name of your soul mate. _

_Allow me to explain; on a whim when I was pregnant with you, your father and I visited a psychic (I know how preposterous it sounds, but it was a joke at the time). This psychic put her hand over my baby-bump and after a few moments gave us this bear to give to you upon your birth. She explained that it represented your soul mate and that one day you would find him and have adventures together. I thought it was a little far-fetched but hoped that what she said was true._

_She explained that you would forget all about your bear and all the memories that went along with it as soon as you met your soul mate and would only remember once the bear was back in your arms._

_I love you son, so I hope that you meet your soul mate and have adventures as the psychic predicted._

_Lots of love, mummy x_'.

"I hardly believe my mother would visit a psychic! It's preposterous! And _soul mates_!?" Sherlock exclaimed.

"You don't believe in soul mates? Me neither. It's stupid, right?"

"Precisely!" Sherlock was surprised; John was the romantic sort, the sort of person that usually believed in soul mates.

"I don't even know why people started believing in them in the first place!" John was more trying to convince himself that he wasn't Sherlock's soul mate and he was not Sherlock's. He wasn't gay! Sure, he liked Sherlock a little more than past best friends and his heart beat a little faster when he was near him... Oh for God's sake, HE WAS NOT GAY!

"You don't know the legend?" Sherlock chuckled.

"No. Why should I? And I thought you said that you didn't retain anything in your 'hard-drive' brain that wasn't needed…"

"This is an exception; I loved that legend as a child and couldn't bring myself to delete it."

"Fine, tell me the legend." John smiled as he sat down in his chair.

"Alright…" Sherlock sat in the opposite chair, "The legend comes from Plato's symposium; a philosophical text by Greek Philosopher Plato dated 385–380 BC. It examines love in a series of speeches by men attending a symposium or drinking party. According to the legend,there were three different kinds of human creatures: men, woman and individuals with both sexes. Humans originally each had four arms, four legs, two faces, four ears and two sets of genitalia. The Gods became intimated by the humans' power and so we were split in half rendering them less powerful and condemning us to spend our lives yearning for the other half to complete us. To provide comfort, Zeus allowed them to have sexual intercourse with another half. The creatures who had been only male, sought out another male. The females, sought out a female. The creatures with both sexes, sought out the opposite sex half. The creatures who had been only male, sought out another male. The females, sought out a female. The creatures with both sexes, sought out the opposite sex half. These people, called soul mates, completed the other person making them feel whole again." Sherlock hadn't realised that he had been edging towards John throughout the story; their faces were now inches away from each other.

"An amazing story…" John breathed.

"I always thought so," Sherlock smiled slightly, he felt almost paralysed by John's gaze.

"You… You are…" Sherlock couldn't stand it any longer. He interrupted John with a passionate kiss on his lips. He had had feelings for John, but never thought about acting on him.

John tensed for a moment, caught off guard by the sudden contact, but relaxed into it. He was surprised at how good it felt, how soft Sherlock's lips were.

Minutes that felt like seconds passed before Sherlock released John from the kiss. "Sorry, I'm so sorry! I couldn't help it!" Sherlock stressed.

"Maybe there is something to this soul mate lark after all," John smiled.

~The End~


	3. Thanks for reading

Author's note: So this is it! I would love some reviews if convenient; if inconvenient, review anyway. ;)

Thanks for reading! :) - ER


End file.
